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In 2022, Tony and his wife bought their first home: a three-bedroom, 2½-bathroom end-unit townhouse in Whitehorse, Yukon, for about $500,000.
It was a milestone that felt distant a few years earlier, when the couple was living in Victoria and watching home prices climb.
Tony and his wife, now 55 and 47, immigrated to Canada from Europe in 2008 and settled in Victoria. They arrived with little money and spent their first years as renters, establishing their careers and raising their son.
“It just seemed like we were never going to get out of the rental suite,” said Tony.
Their eventual path to becoming homeowners would mean moving more than 2,500 kilometres north. After a brief stint in Alberta, the family settled in Whitehorse in 2016 when Tony’s wife got a job with the territory’s government.
The move transformed their finances. Her salary was at least $20,000 higher than she could have earned in a comparable position in B.C., Tony said.
As a self-employed acupuncturist, Tony went from charging $60 a session to $90 while his schedule went from partially booked to consistently full. “My income went up, pretty much doubled,” he said.
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But before Tony and his wife could save for a house, they had debt to tackle. The couple owed $20,000 from their early days in Canada when Tony worked odd jobs such as landscaping and care-home shifts, while his wife studied and worked.
After the debt was gone, they turned their attention to a down payment. For the next three years, Tony said they directed their savings into their RRSPs, knowing they could eventually withdraw that money through the federal Home Buyer’s Plan.
“You didn’t have to split your savings. You could just put everything into one nest egg. That really helped us to get to $50,000, which was what we knew we needed to get to a down payment.”
They reached their target around the beginning of the pandemic but paused their home search because his business temporarily shut. Once Tony returned to work, the pair went back to hunting and bought their townhome directly from the builder before the construction was complete.
Prior to becoming homeowners, the family was paying $1,700 in monthly rent for a two-bedroom house. Their initial mortgage payment was close to $1,900 a month. They’d chosen a variable rate mortgage at 1.8 per cent because they weren’t sure if they’d be in the North long term.
But as interest rates rose, their payments did too. They eventually switched to a five-year fixed at around 4 per cent and now pay approximately $3,000 a month.
“We could have locked in at around $2,000, but you live and learn.”
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Owning a home in the North comes with unique expenses. Tony said their electricity costs jump from roughly $300 a month in summer to between $800 and $1,200 in winter months, despite their new build being well- insulated. The couple also pays an extra $200 a year for earthquake insurance.
Still, Tony believes moving north opened doors for his family that might not have been possible otherwise.
In Whitehorse, higher wages relative to home prices can still make home ownership a reality for households with two good incomes. According to national 2026 payroll data, the average annual earnings in Yukon are over $79,000, well above all 10 provinces in Canada.
For Tony and his family, the trade from south to north included long winters, more expensive travel to visit family and higher costs for some goods. But the move ultimately delivered what the couple sought.
“We’ve got the financial security of buying a house, and that’s what we came for. That was what we set out to achieve, and we achieved it,” he said.
He expects to stay in Whitehorse until his son, now in Grade 10, finishes high school. After that, he and his wife hope to sell, move back to B.C. and downsize, ideally taking on a much smaller mortgage or none at all.
Purchase price: Approximately $500,000
Down payment: $50,000
Legal fees: Approximately $2,000
Realtor fee: None, bought directly from builder
Furniture: Tony did not recall the total but said furnishing a home is pricey in Whitehorse because of limited local selection and high shipping costs. For example, he said a bulky IKEA order can cost around $400 to ship.
Monthly ongoing costs
Mortgage: Approximately $3,000
Home insurance: $1,375 a year, including earthquake coverage
Electricity: Approximately $300 a month in summer and $800-$1,200 a month in winter
Property taxes: Approximately $4,000 annually, roughly $330 a month
Advice: “If you’re down south and feeling like home ownership is out of reach, then come north. If you’ve got qualifications and you can get a good job, then you can get a combined income of $200,000 plus, and with a bit of saving and a bit of being careful, you can buy a house. It does pay to come north. It’s paid us to come north.”
Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the people profiled. Are you a first-time homeowner who would like to share their story? Send us an e-mail.
Are you a first-time homeowner who would like to share their story?
My First Home is a regular series in The Globe and Mail that looks at how buyers are entering the real estate market. Where are they saving and for how long? Are they getting family help? And where and what kind of homes are they buying? We’d like to hear from first time buyers from a diverse range of backgrounds, geographic locations, and housing situations.
If you’re a recent first-time buyer of a home in Canada and would like to participate, fill out the form below or send an email to Roma Luciw at [email protected]. Please include your name, age, email as well as where and when you bought, how much the home cost and how you made it happen. If you fit the profile, we could contact you for a profile and yes, you can remain anonymous.